Ash Dancer
We who live under the grace Khagan Tian Kehan, Eternal Padishah of the Ember Throne, Great Khan of the Nadee Jheel, welcome you to the life under his endless shadow. Speak to no one of the hidden Khanate. Hide your searching eyes as you look for the sanctuary sign, and make allusion to the secret home. The nations hear rumors, but disbelieve. They have no place among us. We are in every city and no nation. Remember the lost world from which we were born and follow the path of the river.
The Withering
Before the world was torn asunder by the breach's fury, the world was different than it is now. While the nations rebuild, we build better, different. The violence of the elements taught us the weaknesses of the old ways. The nations will never learn. They still see power as the number of people they subjugate and number of their colonies. They count their airships and armies, and declare their greatness. These things do not make an empire great. The sky destroys airships as it sees fit. The seas devour fleets without warning, and they are lost to the deep ones. The ground breaks at its own times bringing armies to naught. The nations never learn. A great empire protects its people, knowing that the land owns itself. A powerful empire defends its prosperity without enslaving others who may revolt. A mighty empire understands Talamh rules herself, and we are wanderers by her grace alone. After the Withering, the wise learned to be nimble, always moving, and never pretending to hold those things that can never be held.The Path of the River and Lake
As you know, Nadee Jheel means "River Lake." This is both an homage to our origins in the river lands of Golyn, and the core of the way of life the Eternal Padishah has taught us.The River
Follow the flow of the river. It respects neither hill, nor mountain, nor flattest plain. The river forges its course as is fitting. If it finds a better path, it forgets its former banks and charts a new way.In all your ways, you follow the path of the river. While a river can carve a canyon through the mountains where needed, it always takes the path of least resistance. For this reason alone is the hidden Khanate a secret from the nations. They seek to control and the conquer all they see, blind to the true working of the world. We are not. We follow the river's course through all the secret places. In truth, they are more blind to us than we are hidden to them. Poor fools.
The Lake
The great river flows through the secret places, and when it finds a deep well of safety it collects and gathers its strength.Sanctuaries thrive all over the world, and you will know them by the secret sign. Sign nations are blind to the sacred sign which as they cannot see. The Magpies enchanted them with the same taboo placed upon this letter so they cannot see what is right before their eyes. It isn't hard to distract the lost. They live in a fear that we will never know. Where you see the sign, the Day Guard preserve the peace, the Magpies watch for all danger, and the Bookbinders keep record. All are services open to you and your needs. Pay your tithe to the Bookbinder and keep your place in the heart of the River Lake.
